The strangest things go on around these parts

Flying saucers, spectral dogs, the Grim Reaper and a 3ft dwarf that sucks the lifeforce out of humans. No, it's not the script for the latest Hollywood horror flick. It is the supernatural world of Stock

FLYING saucers, spectral dogs, the Grim Reaper and a 3ft dwarf that sucks the lifeforce out of humans. No, it's not the script for the latest Hollywood horror flick. It is the supernatural world of Stockport.

After dusting off the Stockport Express' very own X-Files we found that, although the town may not be at the crossroads of hell, with demons popping up from every sewer grate, it has certainly had more than its fair share of unexplained phenomena over the years.

In particular, Stockport's skies appear to have been a favourite playground for 'visitors from outer place' with a number of reports by locals which caught the imagination of UFO investigators around the world.

As recently as 1999, reports came into the newsroom about a strange, glowing ball seen in the early hours of the morning over Bunkers Hill in Romiley.

The 'ship' was seen to land for a short time at the top of the hill, leaving marks behind in the field. Investigations proved inconclusive, although sceptics immediately suggested the glowing ball had been a hot air balloon.

Sadly, witnesses decided they did not want to co-operate with our story for fear of being ridiculed.

Although this story of mysterious sightings did not make it onto the pages of our paper, 1997 saw one of Stockport's most famous close encounters.

The 'Flying Triangle' case prompted coverage in the national media and specialist UFO magazines.

The mystery aircraft was first reported by the Seel family from Heaton Moor as they returned to Stockport along the M56 after a holiday in North Wales.

Mr Seel told the Express in June 1997: "We were coming along the M56, when we saw a light in the sky to our left. As we got closer I expected to see some structure holding it up because it was that still. But then I realised it was just hovering in the sky."

The UFO was described as triangular with red lights on each corner and a large, white light in the middle. The family were stunned as it suddenly raced off and disappeared.

A week later, two pilots came forward to corroborate the sighting. They had been taking off from Barton Aerodrome when they saw the shadow of a triangular object race past below them.

After reading the Express story they realised the sighting had been on the same day as that of the Seel family.

And triangular-shaped objects appear to be a recurring theme in sightings in and around Stockport.

The first sighting came in 1995 in Hazel Grove when a resident of Bramhall Moor Lane is reported to have 'fled his home in terror' after spotting a triangular-shaped craft with red and white lights.

Then in 1996 an identical craft overtook a British Airways 737 on its approach to Manchester Airport. The two experienced pilots filed a formal air miss report, but the incident remained unresolved.

The craft returned again, spotted hovering above the Roman Lakes in Marple Bridge and Brinnington in 1997, before the Seel family's experience on the M56.

Perhaps the most bizarre of Stockport's supernatural encounters are the reported sightings of aliens.

In 1976 the Express reported how a group of children in Reddish reported seeing a figure with long, yellow hair, a short grey beard and wearing a silver, one-piece suit collecting samples of soil - while hovering six inches above the ground.

And in 1988 a group of students reported how they were attacked by an alien dwarf dressed in martial arts gear in the grounds of Abney Hall in Cheadle. They apparently came to believe the creature was 'preying on them, sucking out their lifeforce like a vampire'.

But 'alien visitors' are not the only unexpected supernatural forces apparently at work in our town.

Other 'incidents' appear to be due to people who simply cannot leave the borough - ghosts.

Stories of ghouls and spectres date back centuries and many of Stockport's pubs have more than their fair share of spirits - and not just the drinking variety.

The Express archives show pubs such as the Star and Garter on Higher Hillgate, Little Jack Horner's on Lord Street and the Conservative Club in Disley have all reported incidents with ghosts and poltergeists.

But some of the experiences of Express readers make for intriguing and frightening reading. In 1969 a Heaton Norris man went to 'spend a penny' in his outside loo, little expecting he was about to come face-to-face with the Grim Reaper.

He was stunned to see a massive figure dressed in black cape lurking in the shadows. But when he challenged the figure it disappeared.

The witness was so convinced by what he saw that he rushed into his house and grabbed a poker, before going back to confront the intruder. A similar incident happened two days later, this time the figure looked back towards a neighbour's house before disappearing.

The witness went to work that day and was stunned to hear on his return that his neighbour had died during the night. Was the figure he had seen the Grim Reaper himself?

A modern day ghost story was reported in the Express in 1989. A motorcyclist spotted a lone female biker standing disconsolately at a bus stop on Wellington Road South. Thinking she had been stood up or had broken down somewhere, he gallantly pulled over to offer her a lift.

The woman, who was dressed in black leathers and a black helmet, nodded acceptance to the lift and got on the back of the bike.

But, when the man dropped his passenger off at the house where she indicated she lived, the girl disappeared.

Perplexed, the motorcyclist knocked on the door of the house and the couple who answered ushered him inside and sat him down. They then explained he was not the first person to have the experience and the mystery girl was their daughter who had died in a motorbike crash five years before.

These are just some of the stories which have made their way into the pages of the Stockport Express newspaper.

It would appear that, perhaps more than anyplace else, our town has the right to say 'We are not alone'.